• Alcohol consumption in Canada has increased by over 11 per cent in the past decade and by 9.2 per cent in British Columbia in the years 2002-2005.
• Since 2002 the numbers of hospitalizations and neuro-psychiatric deaths attributable to alcohol in BC have increased by 11.7 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.
• In 2005 there were an estimated 25,194 alcohol-related injuries and illnesses requiring hospitalization compared with 4,817 related to illicit drug use.
• The economic cost of alcohol abuse in BC is estimated at $2.2 billion per annum.
• Currently, many low alcohol content beers and coolers sold in BC liquor stores are more expensive than beverages with regular and even high alcohol content.
• There is extensive scientific evidence to support the use of pricing and taxation strategies as an effective means of reducing alcohol consumption and related harms.
• In British Columbia such strategies are readily achievable because the government alcohol monopoly directly controls liquor prices.
• In general, it is recommended that all liquor prices more closely reflect alcohol content and that these are regularly updated with the cost of living.
• Most coolers (65 per cent) now sold in BC contain seven per cent alcohol and have an average price of $5.41 per litre, compared with $8.07 for coolers with a 5.0 to 5.9 per cent alcohol.
• Beers and coolers with less than four per cent alcohol content should have significantly lower price mark-ups applied to give manufacturers, retailers and consumers incentives to produce, market and consume these products.
• Minimum prices also need to be set to ensure there are no cheap high strength products available.
• More data on patterns, distribution and trends in alcohol consumption and related harm in British Columbia on CARBC’s new BC Alcohol and Other Drug Monitoring Project website, www.AODmonitoring.ca.
